Month: May 2016

Another school year is in the books, and thanks to no snow days, we are already into Week 2 of summer vacation!

Another school year is in the books, and thanks to no snow days, we are already into Week 2 of summer vacation!

I hope everyone continues to enjoy Crazy Kid Quotes, which on May 6 celebrated its third anniversary. It has been my pleasure bringing something positive and funny to Galesburg and surrounding towns.

Like students and educators, my blog will take a summer break before returning to bi-weekly posting once school resumes in August. Until then, Crazy Kid Quotes will deliver a couple of “best of the best” updates later this month and in July to keep the smiles going …

Whatever your plans are for tonight, make sure they include a trip to the theater to see Alice Through the Looking Glass! Apparently, most critics don’t agree with me, but I’m not one to care much about fitting in with the masses. Jody and I had a chance to attend a pre-screening earlier this week, […]

Whatever your plans are for tonight, make sure they include a trip to the theater to see Alice Through the Looking Glass!

Apparently, most critics don’t agree with me, but I’m not one to care much about fitting in with the masses. Jody and I had a chance to attend a pre-screening earlier this week, and we both LOVED it. In fact, the whole theater loved it. I’ve been to about half a dozen Disney pre-screenings over the past year or so, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen the entire theater (and it was a large, very packed theater) burst into applause at the closing credits.

Tim Burton directed the first live action Alice in Wonderland back in 2010. I loved that one too, but James Bobin, the director on this year’s sequel, brings a new sense of visual splendor to the story. In true Burton form, the first film had a darkness about it — almost a steampunked feel to it. Bobbins depiction of Wonderland is vividly colorful. I want him to come decorate my house — at least part of it!

Jody and I thought the storyline was very creative. Here’s the gist. Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland (Wonderland was Alice’s mispronunciation of the place when she was a young girl) to save her friend the Mad Hatter. By the way, we were impressed that after six years, the film attracted nearly all of the original cast to return. Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Matt Lucas and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. Looking Glass also introduces us to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.

In this adventure, a self-confident and courageous Alice Kingsleigh has spent the past three years sailing the high seas aboard her father’s ship. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland. Reuniting with her friends the White Rabbit, Absolem, the White Queen and the Cheshire Cat, Alice goes on a time-bending quest to save the Hatter and Underland itself before it’s too late.

It’s a great family film that does a creative job of reinforcing the importance of courage, taking risks to help others, standing up for what we believe in, righting our wrongs and learning to embrace one another’s gifts and abilities in spite of our differences.

The characters are as loveable as ever, and Alice’s wardrobe is stunning!

Don’t miss this fun and inspiring family film. It opens tonight in theaters everywhere.

Jenni Stahlmann is the mom of six kids (ages 3 to 17), including one on the autism spectrum. She and her husband Matthew homeschool the whole brood. Jenni has been a journalist for more than 20 years, having covered government, business and family issues for a wide range of magazines and newspapers. Currently, she and Jody co-host a weekly radio show, write a syndicated weekly column and freelance articles and speak at churches, political groups and homeschool conventions about living on purpose with excellence and raising kids with the end result in mind.